TV Review: Sons of Anarchy 1.4 – Patch Over

Synopsis: The club travels to Nevada to store arms with a brother club The Devil’s Tribe. When the Mayans pose a threat, Clay decides to “patch-over” the tribe, making them an official SOA charter. Tara’s ex, ATF agent Kohn begins investigating Samcro.

Review: In the first three episodes of Sons of Anarchy, the overwhelming takeaway has been the promise of escalation — the pieces are being assembled for some big action and some big twists down the road. And when those pieces finally start to fall into place, all hell is going to break loose. But in episode 4, the show didn’t add any more pieces, it just took a little road trip. Thankfully, that road trip included a big gun fight.

Last week’s major addition was The Shield’s Jay Karnes, as ATF Agent Kohn. His story line is wrought with potential, as he is both on the heels of Samcro and their gun running business as well as being the former stalker boyfriend of Dr. Tara, played by Maggie Siff. Adding to the drama is the tension between Tara and Jax’s mother Gemma (Katie Sagal) as well as her clear affection for Jax. I like that they didn’t jump right into this crazy love/hate quadrangle just yet, keeping Kohn on the sidelines for much of the episode. This shows something that is rare with a new TV show — a certain amount of restraint. Also, I am a big fan of Maggie Siff. Her work on Mad Men was great but short lived. She is further proof that the casting on this show is nothing short of spectacular. And speaking of casting, it was a welcomed surprise to see Hustle and Flow star Taryn Manning make a guest appearance. Hopefully this won’t be the last we see of her.

What showrunner Kurt Sutter and the writers did acknowledge in this episode, is our need for a little action — this is a show about a badass, gun running biker gang — it’s about time we got to see some of those guns go off, in more ways than one. What they’ve proven in episode 4 is that they can continue to move the bigger story lines forward — such as the rift between Clay (Ron Perlman and Jax (Charlie Hunnam), the growing tensions with the Mayans, the encroaching law enforcement, as well as all of Jax’s ladies troubles — all while delivering on what has drawn the audience to the show in the first place; big guns, long rides and short skirts. So far, I don’t know anyone who isn’t impressed with the way this show is delivering. It is carefully working its way into “Best New Show” territory.

Up Next Week: Gemma hosts a town fundraiser, which brings the ex club member who was responsible for Opie’s arrest back to town and into direct conflict with Jax and Opie. Clay deals with protecting a perverse parolee who can lead to a big payoff. ATF agent Kohn continues to investigate SOA.

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